do u count cough drops/syrups?

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scottish_laura_13
scottish_laura_13 Posts: 69 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i have a very sore throat - possibly tonsillitis from the way it feels (not being over dramatic just had it quite a bit in the past) and im loosing my voice, now I already drink loads of water but I need some strepsils etc to soothe and I was wondering if I should count them or not?
also how do I count cough syrup - does anyone count them or just let their body be ill?

Replies

  • duddysdad
    duddysdad Posts: 402 Member
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    I had a small bottle of liquid cold medicine that had 800 calories in the bottle. You could easily go through that in less than 2 days. I would count that. Now I know to take the pills rather than the liquid.
  • scottish_laura_13
    scottish_laura_13 Posts: 69 Member
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    800 calories! damn!
  • HealthyVitamins
    HealthyVitamins Posts: 432 Member
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    personally I don't count them, I'm sure strepsils never made anyone gain weight, but if a cough syrup has 800 calories in it then I would count that if you are drinking a lot of it.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
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    Even those zinc lozenges can have calories from the corn syrup that add up. I count anything with calories.
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    I used to, the last time I was on here (fell apart in maintenance) but then realized I turned down healthy snacks in favor of the cough drops and that weirded me out. If I am sick enough to need meds I probably am not accurate in my counting anyway.
  • AskTracyAnnK28
    AskTracyAnnK28 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    If you're sick then I think you should take the cough medicine and try not to worry about it. Besides, you're apatite probably isn't so great either. Focus on getting better!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Go for sugar free if possible then the calories are very low. If not... yeah. Tustin DM has 25 calories per 10ml dose, throat lozenges 20...
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Depends on how sick I am, if I am so sick that I am not eating much anyway then I don't count anything. If I am at work, still eating decently and functioning then I count them.
  • zcb94
    zcb94 Posts: 3,679 Member
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    I don't know how to count "medicinal" calories, so might figure that out for maintenance, but I don't worry about it for now. If you're sick, take care of that first, then the rest will fall back into place. Just my humble opinion.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    If I'm sick for just a day or two I don't worry about logging medicine like that. If it were something I was taking more long term I would log it.
  • scottish_laura_13
    scottish_laura_13 Posts: 69 Member
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    thanks everyone! ive been trying not to take them and just drinking water in the hope that being ill gets flushed away but I seem to be losing my voice instead lol I might log the strepsils after my 3rd or 4th one
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
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    When I have a sore throat and cough, I drink a lot of hot tea with a little honey. I find this tastes better, and hot tea helps soothe my throat as well as the honey. I do log the honey since those calories can add up fast.
  • emmycantbemeeko
    emmycantbemeeko Posts: 303 Member
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    I mean if you know the calorie content you can log it, sure, but don't avoid taking needed medication because of its calorie content. Additional misery to save a few dozen calories while you're sick is a false economy. I don't even worry about maintaining a deficit while I'm sick (although I usually do because I don't have much appetite). Give your body what it needs to heal.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    emmycantbemeeko wrote: »
    I mean if you know the calorie content you can log it, sure, but don't avoid taking needed medication because of its calorie content. Additional misery to save a few dozen calories while you're sick is a false economy. I don't even worry about maintaining a deficit while I'm sick (although I usually do because I don't have much appetite). Give your body what it needs to heal.

    This. But yeah, if you can, choose sugar free, but even 200 calories of medicine is way worth the trade-off of feeling better faster so you can go back to your workouts (and burn way more than 200 calories).

    It totally sucks that medicine don't give you nutrition information but you can typically look it up online.
  • DrifterBear
    DrifterBear Posts: 265 Member
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    Maybe if you have what duddysdad had and get 800 calories, but even then, you're sick, focus on getting better not calorie counting. If you really liked the cough drops and kept eating them after you were better, that might be an issue, but otherwise just focus on getting better. As long as you don't binge and use being 'sick' as an excuse, I wouldn't necessarily cut out calories to 'make room' for medicine. So you maintain for a couple DAYS... Being sick is a set back, but it's not long term.
  • MarkFraser142
    MarkFraser142 Posts: 10 Member
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    You should count them for data purposes only. What I mean by this is that, you should plug them into MFP but I would not necessarily try to eat 200 calories less if I took in 200 calories of cough syrup. When you are sick, it is best to just deal with the fact that your diet is going to suffer and that you should at least try to avoid going off of the rails. The reason why I say that you should count it for data purposes is that, if you see that you lost less this week than you think you should have, you can easily go back and see "Oh wait, I ended up eating 1000 calories last week of couch syrup" so that should hopefully make you feel better about why things are the way they are.

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